Goodwood Cup repeat within reach for Saddler's Rock

The Group 2 Goodwood Cup over two miles heads the action on the Thursday card at the Glorious Goodwood meeting in England.

The Goodwood Cup includes the race’s defending champion, Saddler’s Rock, a 5-year-old John Oxx-trained horse who won last year’s edition of the race by one length but has failed to land a victory of any sort in seven starts since. Saddler’s Rock most recently checked in eighth of 14 in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup on June 20, though the good-to-soft conditions he’s likely to find Friday might better suit him than the fast-playing ground he encountered both at Ascot and in a pair of Dubai starts this past winter.

Seven-year-old Cavalryman, one of three Saeed bin Suroor-trained Godolphin runners entered in the Gold Cup, is the race’s most accomplished starter, though in 31 starts around the world he has yet to run at Goodwood. Cavalryman defeated stablemate Azeemah – another Goodwood entrant – by three lengths to capture the 2013 Gold Cup at Meydan over this same two-mile trip, and most recently was a respectable third behind Universal and Azeemah in the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket.

Godolphin’s third runner, Colour Vision, also has a chance. He finished third to Saddler’s Rock in last year’s Goodwood Cup, and most recently was a solid fourth going 2 1/2 miles in the Ascot Gold Cup.

The card’s supporting feature is the Group 2 Richmond Stakes for 2-year-olds over six furlongs.

Garswood gets up to win Lennox

Garswood, seventh in the English 2000 Guineas in May, won his first group stakes in Tuesday’s $230,550 Lennox Stakes on the opening day at Goodwood.

Ridden by Ryan Moore, Garswood, the 9-4 favorite, closed from the back of the field of 10 with a wide rally to finish a neck in front of 10-1 Caspar Netscher. Boom And Bust, a 20-1 outsider, finished third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Garswood in the Group 2 race over seven furlongs.

Trained by Richard Fahey, Garswood won minor stakes at Ayr last September and at Newmarket in April. A 3-year-old colt by Dutch Art, Garswood was fourth in the Group 3 Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

Caspar Netscher, a four-time group stakes winner, made his first start of 2013 on Tuesday. He stood at stud in Ireland earlier this year, but was put back in training after fertility problems surfaced.